What did Anton want? An end to conflict? That wasn’t quite right. He wanted the most people possible to be happy and healthy, and to get there with the least undeserved suffering possible. A lofty goal that was probably impossible, but could at least be strived towards.

Tenoun’a was his choice of planet, and Xasall the city. He wanted to speak with Aurelianus, the most practical seeming city leader. Anton carefully approached the sheltered starport, this one carved directly into the ground instead of the side of a mountain. Local topology simply didn’t seem to allow for it.

When he got close, nobody shot at him. That was a good step up from his first time. He did feel cultivations flare up, and people were ready to fight, but he was given time to announce himself. “Greetings. It is I, Anton Krantz, returning as promised several years ago.”

He was waved forward. He didn’t recognize any of the particular guards, just the same cultivation styles he expected. Presumably, they had been told to expect him or at least heard about him. Then again, it was possible Xasall was just a bit more cautious than Rolis.

Anton had to wait an hour or so, but Aurelianus came to meet him in person. “You returned,” the man said. It was simply a statement of fact, implying nothing about whether or not he believed it would happen.

“I said I would,” Anton shrugged, “And nothing stopped me. So I did.”

The man was clearly appraising Anton. Recognizing him was simple, but Aurelianus seemed to be looking for something more. Perhaps some hint of whether he came as an ally or a spy. Anton’s visits to Shrenn hadn’t exactly been secret. “Founding a colony on an ice moon is a serious logistical problem,” Aurelianus finally said.

“Of the people I know here, you seem best equipped for the challenge,” Anton said. “Are you still working on that plan, or…?”

“We have a small and ultimately irrelevant number of individuals dwelling on a remote moon. Overall, with the ships required, they have been a slight net drain on our resources.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Anton said, “Do you think the situation will improve?”

“Perhaps in five to ten years,” Aurelianus shook his head. “The stores of ice brought back on return trips provided little usable water, but it might be possible for the local colony to refine enough to make any trips worthwhile.”

“Let’s hope so,” Anton said. “I have some questions about your peers. Mayors, lords, or other leaders of cities upon Tenoun’a. Are any of them working on similar endeavors?”

“I believe they are quite occupied with their… normal survival methods.”

“Of course,” Anton replied. “I don’t want to just invite myself in, but I imagine you wouldn’t want to just stand out here…”

“Indeed. We will be returning below once the elevator is loaded,” he gestured. “It is better not to waste energy.”

An important practical consideration that was relevant here, unlike Ceretos or most places he had visited. Even In’istra was better off in terms of ambient natural energy, and Anton supposed in general prosperity. After all, they’d simply been treated to the ‘normal’ level of devastation by upper realm invasions, instead of the clear attempts to fully scrub them out for putting up a resistance like Tenoun’a and Shrenn. Anton would never be able to go to the upper realms, but if he was able to he could destroy a few planets within the Trigold Cluster. Was that too much? He could just kill every cultivator Life Transformation or higher, since they were likely all part of this conspiracy. But of course, he couldn’t do any of that so he just had to make sure everyone who came to the lower realms never returned. Even in spirit. Or especially in spirit, with the Twin Soul Sect being considered.

At least that was one problem this system didn’t have. Because they’d been intentionally devastated, the Twin Soul Sect hadn’t hung around to infiltrate them. Anton had swept every city he’d been in to confirm, and it held.

Anton rode down the elevator with a great quantity of stolen goods- mostly food, but also manufactured tools and clothing. Shrenn was significantly better off- mostly because of their moons being usable- but if they hadn’t had to deal with all these losses, Anton wondered what state they could be in.

Once they were in Aurelianus’ office, he spoke. “Now we can talk more comfortably.”

“Are you implying that other city leaders might be paying spies?” Anton said with clear sarcasm.

“Imagine that. A planet of struggling individuals that isn’t a unified whole.” Aurelianus shook his head, “There might even be spies from Shrenn.”

“And yet here you are, speaking alone with me.”

“What can I say? I live life on the edge. And unless I am completely unable to read your intentions, in which case I would fall to whatever machinations you have eventually, I should be nowhere near the top of the list of people you would kill to get what you want.”

“And what do you think I want?”

“A good question. I find it difficult to believe that you are in this purely to help us. But… I can at least believe that you will treat your allies well.”

“Perhaps I simply like making people happy, and prefer when people aren’t killing people pointlessly,” Anton responded. “But I suppose I can admit to other practical considerations. I hate what the upper realms have done. Are doing. I want as many allies against them as possible, and it’s better if they’re… functional. Then there’s the matter of devotion. Has that come up in your cultivation?”

Aurelianus pondered for some time, “It does seem like the leadership of various cities retains power more consistently than one would expect, even with cultivation resources being funneled to them.”

“I’d just like to quickly point out that the numbers here aren’t relevant to me. I have billions of people who know me back in my home system. The numbers here wouldn’t change that much. Not that I actually ask people to worship me.”

“Why not?” Aurelianus asked. “If you are actually benevolent, would it not be appropriate?”

“Because I’m definitely not a god. And people should be thinking about dealing with their own issues, and not providing support for me as if I need it. Though on the subject of things I want… I do want permission for something.”

“And what is that?” Aurelianus questioned. “I can’t imagine we have any resources you don’t have access to.”

“Who knows?” Anton shrugged, “You could have some unique herbs. But what I meant is your sun.” Anton held up a hand, “Obviously I’m not going to take it. It would remain right where it was. But I would siphon off some of its power.”

Aurelianus frowned. “How much? Half?”

Anton laughed out loud at that. “You think I could handle that much power? I nearly became charcoal after absorbing less than a billionth of what a smaller star puts out in a second. No, it would not be nearly so much… but it would restrict other activities involving it.”

“Well, I don’t have the authority to negotiate for such a thing all on my own,” Aurelianus admitted. “But depending on what you offer, I could certainly be convinced to support that. And I don’t think others would necessarily be opposed. But as it has great value, it would require more than just vague promises of support.”

“Of course,” Anton said. “You are a man of numbers. What if I told you I had seeds for plants with twice the yield of what you currently have, while using half the water?” As Tenoun’a was working with plants that survived devastation, what they had was durable… but not necessarily the most productive. Anton didn’t actually know the hard numbers, but he could easily promise that, between plants bred throughout Ceretos, Weos, and Rutera. Plus a few originating from the Sylanis Cluster, either snatched during the war or actually traded for recently.

-----

With the first step complete, all Anton needed to do was talk to a dozen more rulers who would all have their own requirements, and then do that again on another planet. And the biggest part: get Tenoun’a to stop the raids and agree to a diplomatic meeting with Shrenn. In the worst case, he thought he could get Shrenn to agree to buy off Tenoun’a with a similar amount of goods that were stolen, while avoiding conflict on both sides. They’d put up with the current situation for their entire lives, buying off raiders had to last at least a couple decades.

The problem would be getting them to just… stop. Both in the short and long term. He’d received advice from Lynnette for how to negotiate possible reparations if Shrenn wasn’t willing to just let things go. Not that Anton thought they should be willing to, as they were the injured party… at least over the last centuries. There were others Anton consulted with, of course, a whole team following Kohar’s legacy. It was odd to think that some of them hadn’t met her, but while Kohar had been many things, a great cultivator was not one of them. Eventually, age had caught up to her despite Anton’s best efforts to help her improve. She still lived more than twice the normal productive lifespan of a non-cultivator, but Anton still felt that wasn’t enough. He understood death well enough, but it would be nice if some people of practical value could be an exception.

Anton steeled himself, preparing to look at the future talks as a proper battle. Just without the part where he could shoot someone to make it over more quickly. This was going to be a lot of work. Maybe he should have brought some others along, though that could have diminished the limited trust he had built up.

-----

Though there were certainly energy senses all over him, and some people even technically looking at him, Chidi knew nobody was really watching him. He could step onto the ship and nobody would even know. He just had to look like he belonged. That was the best and most powerful stealth technique Velvet had taught him. Just look and act like you belong, and people will assume you will. Of course, that only went so far- if his cultivation completely mismatched he would be quite obvious.

The ship was going to Yaitis. Chidi knew more about it now, and it was considered relatively unimportant and thus had less powerful cultivators involved. Lots of Spirit Building and Essence Collection, very few Life Transformation cultivators in the grand scheme of things. Maybe a couple Integration cultivators spread over the planet, between various battlefields.

He could just go, but instead of it being something brave he was doing, going off to war… it would actually just be running. Because at least for a brief time his parents were returning, and he could talk to them. Bring up the idea. He was strong enough now… they had to let him participate, right?

“Come on Aconite,” he sighed, “Let’s go talk to your mother.”

“I already have unlimited permission to go wherever I please,” Aconite replied with wolfspeak.

“I know, but it’s easier to talk to a big wolf who doesn’t get to tell me what to do. And she seems like the type to agree to me going off to war.”

-----

“You cannot go. Your fangs are not sharp enough.”

“Wha- but I…”

“You wished for some practice opposing your mother, did you not?” Spikes growled. “You must be expected to respond firmly.”

“But I don’t even have fangs.” Spikes just loomed over him, her tough fur nearly resting on his face, “I mean, uh…” he clutched the hilt of his sword, “I’ve been training with my sword for over a decade, now. I’m strong enough.”

“Are you?” Spikes whipped around, nearly knocking him off his feet with the force of her turn. “I heard differently from your instructors. And you also have to be strong enough to protect my daughter.”

“O-of course!” Chidi stood up straight as he could. “I wouldn’t let Aconite get hurt.”

Spikes leaned in to her daughter, “You have to make sure to protect this kid. Humans are small and weak, and his fangs… though trained, are not as sharp as I might hope for the child of Catarina and Timothy.”

Aconite nodded, “Obviously I’ll keep him safe.”

“And don’t go around eating new poisons just because they smell good!”

“Mom!”